


43 Seconds

by Halfmoon95



Series: Lex Ryder [1]
Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-12 23:37:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10501824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halfmoon95/pseuds/Halfmoon95
Summary: (Contains minor spoilers) Takes place after Hunting the Archon.Ryder knew she was in trouble as soon as she read Liam's message.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ME:A work, featuring Lex Ryder, a vanguard. I'm still working on getting the character voices down. Any feedback is more than welcome!

Lex doesn't stop in the  _Tempest's_ airlock. Instead she shoulders past her squad - Jaal nursing a nasty cut on the left side of his neck and Liam with what she would guess is a dislocated shoulder - and limps to the bridge, resting one hand on the back of Kallo's chair to steady herself.

"Kallo," she says, hoping no one else can hear the note of panic creeping into her tone. "Do me a favor and get us out of here? Quickly?"

"Where to, Ryder?" Kallo asks, long alien fingers flying across the control panel.

" _Nexus,"_ she says immediately. It's the first thing she thinks of; besides, the Salarian ark will need repairs and Tann needs to know what happened.

Her heart rate finally begins to slow after they make the FTL jump. 

Suddenly, Lex is exhausted.

Lex turns, a little unsteady on her feet, and finds both Jaal and Liam staring at her expectantly. "Let Lexi take a look at you," she says, reaching for the first seal on her armor. She winces a little from the movement, suddenly aware of a sharp pain in her collarbone and a deep ache in her chest.

So dying hurt, even the second time. Who knew?

"You have also sustained injuries, Ryder," SAM says, but it's loud enough that it might as well have been a broadcast to the whole crew.

Lex pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to relieve some of the pressure from her quickly growing migraine. "I'll check in later. I should call Addison and-"

"I'm pretty sure  _dying_ earns a trip to the medbay," Peebee chimes in, striding onto the bridge from her escape pod. "Damn, Ryder. I thought I was supposed to be the dramatic one."

Lex rolls her eyes. "Couldn't let you one up me, Peebee." 

"Well you won. Ass."

Lex laughs, some of the tension slipping from her shoulders. "You know-"

"Where is she?"

_Shit._

Lexi stalks into the room, surveying it once before her gaze lands on Ryder. Her eyes narrow. "Medbay. Now."

"Lexi, I'm f-"

"If the word 'fine' leaves your mouth, I'm going to kill you myself, and this time SAM will  _not_ be bringing you back," Lexi snaps. " _Medbay."_ She glances at Jaal and Liam, none of the fire leaving her gaze. "All of you."

Still limping, Lex starts to make her way across the bridge, opting to take the lift instead of the ladder for once. She rubs at her chest absentmindedly, but it does little to relieve the dull pain that lingers there.

"Heard about your stunt back there, kid," Drack calls as they pass, glancing up from his computer screen. "Kosta, did you know your girlfriend's even crazier than you?"

"Yeah, if she keeps dying I'm going to have to file a complaint about emotional abuse," Liam replies with a laugh.

"Sit down, Ryder," Lexi says when they reach the medbay, nodding her head at one of the beds. The push is gentler than her tone. "I want to run some scans. Jaal, let's take a look at that cut."

Lex sits down with a barely suppressed sigh, relieved to be off her aching feet. She glances at Liam, expecting him to sit beside her, but he leans against the wall with his arms folded over his chest and his eyes fixed on the floor.

"I don't think it's going to scar," Lexi says after a few moments, patting Jaal on the shoulder. "Go get some rest. Liam, how's the shoulder?"

"It's nothing, doc," Liam replies, pushing off of the wall to stand in front of her. "Just wrenched it."

Lexi maneuvers his arm around a little before giving a slight nod. "I'll give you something for pain. Try to rest it if you can."

"Will do." Liam hurries out of the room without so much as a glance in Ryder's direction.

She watches the door close behind him, brow furrowed. "Lexi, do you-"

"Hold still, Ryder," Lexi says crisply, bringing up her omnitool. 

After a dozen different scans and a lecture that would've made her father proud, Lex is finally allowed to leave the medbay. She heads for her room, wanting nothing more than a hot shower and a nap.

"You have a new email, Ryder," SAM says when she enters the room.

"Thanks, SAM." Lex rolls her shoulder a few times as she crosses to her terminal, pulling up her unread messages.

There's only one. 

_We need to talk._

_\- Kosta_

"Well," Lex mutters. Even someone as inexperienced as her knew what that meant. "Shit."

#

 Liam doesn't let her avoid the confrontation for long. She was hoping she could put it off for at least the rest of the day - take a hot shower, get some decent sleep,  _then_ figure out her newest relationship issue - but when she comes back from the bathrooms, Liam is already waiting in her quarters, arms folded over his chest as he glares out the window.

Lex pauses in the doorway, still rubbing her hair with a towel. It's almost like she can  _feel_ the tension so visible in the taut lines of his shoulders.

"I was going to come find you," she finally starts. "After ... stuff." The words fall flatly between them. "Look, before you say anything-"

Liam whips around to face her, eyes blazing. "What the hell were you thinking?"

She takes a step back. "Excuse me?"

"Do you think - do you think you're expendable or something?" He throws up his hands, pacing around the room. "Do you think you're replaceable?" 

"I  _think_ I did what I had to do," Lex replies, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. "If it weren't for me you'd still be stuck in that stasis field!"

"We would've found another way!"

"There wasn't time!" Lex tosses her towel onto the bed, one hand on her hip. "It was a calculated risk. And I'm  _fine."_

"You're bloody well  _not_ fine," he snaps. He swipes a stack of data pads off her desk. "You  _died,_ Ryder!"

Ryder takes another step back. "And SAM brought me back."

"And what if it wouldn't have worked?" Liam replies. "Did you even stop to  _think_ about that possibility?"

"Even if I  _had_ died, you and Jaal could have gotten back to the  _Tempest._ SAM would've been transferred to Cora." Lex shakes her head, not sure if she wants to laugh or cry. "You still would've had a Pathfinder, so I don't see the problem."

"I wasn't worried about a Pathfinder, this has  _nothing_ to do with you being Pathfinder!" He's pacing again, one hand grabbing at his hair, nervous energy rolling off of him in waves.

"Then what was it about, Liam, because I don't-"

"Forty-three seconds," he cuts her off.

She blinks. "What?"

He turns to face her, chest heaving with every breath. "You stopped breathing for forty-three seconds."

"Liam."

"You were  _dead,_ Lex. For forty-three seconds someone I - someone I care about was gone." He holds up his arms again, the gesture almost helpless. "Do you know what that did to me? Do you know what that felt like?"

Lex stares at him for a long moment, eyes wide, before taking a few tentative steps forward and wrapping her arms around his waist. He stiffens, and then she feels him relax against her as his arms circle tightly around her shoulders. Lex buries her face in his chest, breathing him in. One of his hands comes up to cup the back of her head.

"Don't do that to me," he whispers, words barely more than a breath. "Please, Lex. Don't do that to me again."

She presses closer, squeezing her eyes shut. "It doesn't matter. I'm here. I'm safe. That's what matters."

His grip tightens. "It matters to me. I meant what I said back on Eos. This is about us." He pulls back to look her in the eye, resting his hand on her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere and I expect the same promise from you."

"Okay," Lex whispers, leaning into his touch. "Okay. I promise."

He raises an eyebrow. "No more dying?"

"No more dying."  _If I can help it._

At her words, the rest of his tension melts away and he hugs her tightly again. "Good." They stand like that for a long time. It's only after her poorly stifled yawn that Liam pulls away and offers her a small smile. "You should get some rest," he says quietly, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "We both should. It's been a long day."

"Stay with me tonight?" she asks, taking his hand.

Liam nods, letting her lead him to the bed. They settle quickly, one of his arms wrapped loosely around her waist and her head pillowed on his chest. It isn't long before he's out, chest rising and falling steadily beneath her cheek.

Lex lies awake for a long time just listening to him breathe.


End file.
